Wine After Whiskey
by thatgleekychick
Summary: When Blaine's life falls apart, he packs up and moves to Lima to live with his brother. He's having a hard time adjusting, but when he meets a gorgeous bartender, all of that is about to change. Kurt's had a rough year but Hummel's can't run without him. That's why he's sweeping when Blaine walks into his bar, looking for his wallet and restarting Kurt's once broken heart.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Hello :) I'm back with something new, something AU, and something Klaine. There's not much better than that, right? Wine After Whiskey is inspired by a song by the same name by Carrie Underwood.

Do we still have to put disclaimers on these things? I haven't in ages, but I own nothing!

So without further adieu...

* * *

Blaine Anderson sat down on the edge of his bed and took in the room he'd been learning to call his own for the last week. It was spacious, with more than enough room to put the desk and bookshelves that were still in transit from New York, and there was a generous amount of closet space. And anything that didn't fit had been boxed back up and brought down to the basement. But that was all his life had become: the spare bedroom in a house that belonged to his brother, Cooper, and his brother's wife, Allison, and a couple of boxes filled with the parts of his life that he didn't have room for anymore.

Moving to Lima was a fresh start, a chance for Blaine to make a new life for himself and forget about all the horrible things that had happened in New York. After all, wasn't that exactly why Cooper moved here in the first place? Blaine's older brother had been flying through life without a care in the world. He had the means and the desire to do everything and anything without anyone, not even his family, to keep him in one place for too long. But then on a road trip the summer he turned thirty, Cooper met the love of his life and it wasn't long before he packed up everything he had and moved to Lima, Ohio. A couple of years later, they were married. Allison kept his grounded and for the first time in his adult life, Cooper had found a place to settle down. And for the first time in Blaine's life, he was truly jealous of his brother for finding true love, for making a family.

It hadn't gone unnoticed by Blaine that the walls of his new bedroom were painted a pale yellow and that the room had always been intended to be a nursery, and not a spare bedroom for Cooper's disaster of a brother.

In Blaine's defense, though it was a rather weak one, nothing that happened to him was his fault. Not really. It wasn't his fault that he came home to find his boyfriend with someone else, naked on their kitchen table. It wasn't Blaine's fault that the school he'd been working at had to let him go. It wasn't Blaine's fault that he was nearing thirty and his entire life began crumbling around him in a matter of two weeks.

All it took was a phone call from Cooper before Blaine was packing his things into boxes and throwing away what he no longer needed. Cooper had extended the invitation for Blaine to live with him and Allison, explaining to Blaine that he'd already found him a job at the elementary school teaching Kindergarten. "All I had to do was work my charm," Cooper had told him, "They needed someone to teach small children, and I told them that I just happened to have a very qualified brother." And that was how Blaine found himself laying back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to not, for the millionth time, think about the terrible events that led him To Lima, in hopes that he could spot the red flags that he'd missed, or the ones he saw and chose to ignore.

There was no way he could have predicted that the school wouldn't ask him back to teach another year. The principal had told Blaine that he was a fine teacher, that the kids loved him and that he'd even got a few compliments from parents. But they were downsizing the school and the only thing they could offer him was a glowing recommendation.

Though, in hindsight, he probably should have seen Jason cheating on him coming from a mile away. They'd been together for a couple of years and Blaine was ready; ready to get married and start a family. And he had wanted that with Jason. He'd always hoped that Jason would ask him, but Jason had always been hesitant, never exactly explaining himself, and skirting around the topic every time Blaine brought it up. He shouldn't have been so surprised to find him on top of one of the guys he worked with, the one who had hit on him at Jason's Christmas party for work, that Jason had said was completely harmless, and straight. He should have known there were others before Jason confessed everything and them moved out of the apartment.

But none of it mattered, not in Lima. In Lima he was just Cooper Anderson's brother and the new Kindergarten teacher. And aside from that he could be anybody he chose to be.

There was a knock on the door and Blaine turned his head as it opened and Cooper popped his head inside. Cooper was a handful of years older than Blaine, but sometimes it was hard to tell. He still had a youthfulness about him, both physical and mentally, that sometimes made him seem younger than Blaine.

"Hey Squirt," Cooper said with a spring in his voice giving Blaine his best big brother smile. Blaine sometimes thought that Cooper's energy was best suited for something other than construction.

"Hey Coop," Blaine sat up, grimacing at the nickname his brother had been calling him since he was ten. He hated it, but despite his pleas, especially during high school, Cooper never stopped using it, and eventually Blaine decided it wasn't worth the battle.

"You alright," Cooper asked completely entering the room and moving to sit next to Blaine on the bed.

"Yeah," Blaine responded, only partially lying, "Just a little tired."

"Well, nap if you must, but be ready by eight to go out tonight."

"Cooper, I don't think—"

"You've been here for a week," Cooper said putting his hand on Blaine's shoulder, "I've given you a week to mourn your shitty ex-boyfriend and your shitty New York life and to get all settled in here. Now it's time for you to go out and experience Lima."

"You told me there wasn't anything to do here."

"There really isn't," Cooper said, "Unless it's the weekend and unless you're at Hummel's."

"Hummel's," Blaine asked curiously.

"Hummel's is a bar that has fantastic onion rings," Cooper explained, "And I guarantee you'll have a good time. It's impossible to go to Hummel's and not have a good time."

"Do I get to say no," Blaine asked hopeful.

Cooper shook his head, "Not if you want to continue living here."

Blaine knew Cooper wasn't serious, but also that there was no way he was going to convince his Cooper to let him stay home, "Fine," Blaine said giving in.

"Fantastic," Cooper said patting Blaine on the knee and standing up, "and remember that this is going to be your first impression on the people of Lima. Make it a good one."

Blaine took a deep breath and closed his eyes as Cooper disappeared from the room, leaving him once again alone with just his thoughts. When his eyes were open, he could see Lima, his new home, his new life. But when he closed his eyes, it was like a switch was flipped and all he his thoughts turned to the past, the past he couldn't change. So he opened them again, taking in the pale yellow room and decided to focus his thoughts on the future. Ready or not, Blaine had four hours to get himself ready for his Lima, Ohio debut. He had to take the thoughts of New York and Jason and lock them up with the boxes in the basement so that he could go out and have a good time. If he couldn't, then how was Lima ever going to feel like home? How would he ever find for himself, the same thing that Cooper had?

* * *

Blaine wasn't exactly sure what he had been expecting Hummel's to be, but what he got was a building at the end of a strip mall. A huge sign over the entrance displayed the name of the bar in large, neon orange lights. There was a porch across the front of the building with a couple of vacant tables. Blaine followed Cooper inside Hummel's, the foyer packed with people waiting for a table. Cooper pushed his way passed them; bypassing the hostess completely, and led Blaine to a table where two other guys were waiting. The first Blaine knew from Cooper's wedding party. His name was Jeff and he'd met Cooper once he'd moved to Lima. He was Allison's cousin. He'd played football in high school and in college, and he still looked like it. His dark hair was longer than the last time Blaine had seen him, but as Blaine shook his hand, Blaine thought that it worked better for him that way.

"This is Sam Evans," Cooper said gesturing to the other man at the table. This man looked around Blaine's age, had shoulder length blonde hair, and unusually large lips.

"Nice to meet you," Blaine said shaking Sam's hand and sitting down between him and Cooper.

"You too, dude," Sam said, "You're brother hasn't shut up about you since he found out you were moving here."

"All good things, I swear," Cooper said flashing his thousand dollar smile that meant that he wasn't exactly being truthful.

A moment later they were greeted by their waitress, a Latina woman in four inch black heels that accompanied the red and black dress that was her uniform. She had an apron wrapped around her waist and a serving tray in her hand.

"What can I get you gents?"

"Whiskey on the rocks for both the Anderson brothers and whatever these jokers are having," Cooper said gesturing to Jeff and Sam, "The whole tabs on me tonight, boys."

"Cooper, you don't have to do that," Blaine said.

"But I want to," Cooper said putting his arm around his brother "You're my kid brother and it's your first night out on the town. Besides, I know you'll maybe have one more and one of these two will get the bill next time."

"Thanks, Coop," Blaine said with a bashful smile. Sometimes Blaine forgot that Cooper could actually be a great big brother.

"No problem, buddy," Cooper said before turning his attention towards Jeff.

"Alright," Sam said pulling Blaine's attention towards him, "Lima 101."

"I'm sorry," Blaine said bewildered.

"See the man over at the bar alone," Sam said gesturing behind him to a man sitting at the bar in a bright blue polo shirt and red shorts that were actually _really_ short, "That is Old Man Tanaka. But he's not actually that old. He's spent every day in here since his fiancé dumped him a few years ago. He doesn't talk to anyone anymore. He just comes in and sits down on his stool in the bartender brings him his usual. Two rules: never talk to him and never sit on his stool."

"That sounds tragic."

"Oh, totally. My mom brings him a casserole every week but she just leaves it on the porch, rings the doorbell and leaves. When she shows up to drop a new one off, she finds the old dish sitting on the porch, clean. No idea if he even eats them, but mom is grateful he gives her back her dishes."

"So he just sits here and gets drunk all day?"

"I guess," Sam said, "But he always walks himself out of here just fine. He's not like slopping or anything."

Their waitress brought them their first round, and between then and round three (though Blaine stopped, as expected, after round two), Sam excitedly filled Blaine in on all the people of Lima; or at mostly just the ones currently at Hummel's. Their waitress, Santana Lopez, dated Sam once in high school before she came out and professed her love to her best friend, Brittany. But Brittany had dreams that were bigger than Lima and she left for Los Angeles right after high school, leaving everyone, including Santana, behind. Sam told him about Brittany (he dated her too), and Mercedes (Sam kind of dated her as well) and then It was just after finished his story about Puck, the other server, that he looked up in search for Santana, announcing that he needed another drink.

But Santana was nowhere to be seen.

"She must be on break," Blaine said, "I can just go to the bar."

"Two more for us, Squirt," Cooper said gesturing between him and Jeff who had been joined by another man, and from what Blaine could here, they were talking baseball.

Blaine nodded and got up from the table and weaved his way through the other tables and people towards the bar. While he waited to be served, Blaine looked back over towards his table, the table where his brother and his brother's friends sat and took in the fact that this, this town, this bar, this life was now his. In New York he'd had a small group of friends and every Friday night, and sometimes with Jason, they'd go out to this bar not far from Blaine's apartment. It was the thing that Blaine looked forward to the most every week. But he didn't have New York or those friends, or Jason, anymore. Life was different now and he'd have to settle for this new bar and these new friends; even if they were the ones he was borrowing from Cooper.

"What can I get you?"

Blaine turned his attention towards the bartender, fully intending to just rattle off his list of drinks, but then his mind went completely blank. Because standing in front of him, wearing a white Henley and a black vest, was the most beautiful man Blaine had ever seen. He was absolutely with his porcelain skin and his chestnut hair that was styled into the perfect coif. And his eyes, _oh my god his eyes. _They were the most stunning shade of blue; an ocean Blaine wanted nothing more than to drown in.

This gorgeous bartender had put a spell on him, leaving him unable to form a single thought or allow a single word to escape his lips. And it was a long moment before Blaine could pull himself out of the haze. He'd blame it on the alcohol but Blaine was certain that it was caused by nothing more than the bartender's patient, and beautiful, smile, "Uh. Whiskey on the rocks, a Bud Light and a Rum and Coke. Please."

Blaine could have sworn he saw the corners of the bartender's mouth raise just a fraction higher before he silently turned around and began taking care of Blaine's order. Which was just fine with Blaine because it left him to try and calm the voice in his head that wouldn't stop screaming about how attractive the bartender was and from drifting off to other, rather imaginative, thoughts. Never in his life had Blaine been so struck by someone. But he needed to force himself to put his thoughts back on track so that he could function like a sane human in front of the attractive bartender, and not turn into a pile of goo. Because that wasn't very attractive.

The bartender returned with his drinks, "Are you adding these to a tab?"

"No," Blaine said reaching in his pocket for his wallet, grateful that he seemed to be able to function again, "These are going to be on me."

Blaine pulled enough cash to cover the drinks and give the bartender a generous tip. It was the least he could do after acting like an idiot in front of him and internally ogling him while was doing his job. He smiled, hoping he was now coming off as charming and not a bumbling idiot, and creatively, and safely, arranged all three drinks in his hands and made his way back to the table.

"Took you long enough," Cooper said reaching for his drink just as Blaine was setting them down on the table.

"There were a lot of people."

"Uh huh," Cooper said and turned back towards Jeff.

Sam took his Rum and Coke from Blaine, "Nothing for you?"

"No, I'm done for the night. Especially if he's still going."

Sam nodded, taking a sit of his drink, looking ready to launch into another lesson in Lima 101, when Blaine interrupted him.

"Who's the guys working the bar," Blaine asked.

Sam turned to look and Blaine immediately regretted even asking because while Sam's eyes found the bartender, the bartender was maybe, hopefully, definitely, looking over in their direction.

"Oh, that's Kurt. Kurt Hummel. He runs this place."

"Oh."

"Why, what's up?"

"Nothing. I just—I didn't get his name when I got our drinks, that's all."

"Right," Sam said and then found the opportunity to tell another story, "But Kurt, like I said, he runs this place. It's actually his dad's place; he opened it a long time ago, like before Kurt was born. But you don't really see Burt, that's Kurt's dad, around much. He does the books or whatever to make sure the bills get paid, but the day-to-day stuff for the bar, pretty much comes completely from Kurt. The dude is here like every day."

"So, you know him?"

"Everyone knows everyone in Lima," Sam said, "But yeah. We were in Glee Club together in high school."

"Glee Club?"

"Hey man, don't hate on it. It was actually kind of awesome. After high school a couple of us went off to do other things, a lot of us, like me, Santana, Puck and Kurt stayed here."

"Do you regret it?"

"No," Sam told him, "Some people couldn't find what they wanted in Lima. But sometimes this place has everything you need."

* * *

They left before last call. After the first round of drinks, Cooper spent most of the night conversing with Jeff and a bunch of his other friends from work, leaving Blaine with Sam as his constant companion. But Blaine wasn't upset with his brother because he liked Sam. Sam had told Blaine all the important things he needed to know about Lima, and some of its in habitants, and Blaine found someone who he could actually talk to about music. It was Blaine's second love, after teaching, and Cooper never really had a real appreciation for music. Not like Sam had. It was nice.

But leaving Cooper to his own devices all night meant that by the time they left, Cooper was too intoxicated to drive them home and it would be up to Blaine to get them there. Blaine said goodbye to Jeff and Sam, with a promise to text Sam to hang out, after they helped him tuck Cooper into the front seat of his car, refusing their offer to help Blaine navigate the way home and took off in what he hoped was the right direction. He really needed to become more acquainted with the lay of the Lima land.

"Cooper, I'm going to need your help," Blaine said after a few minutes, turning into what he was pretty sure was the right subdivision, but now he was faced with a bunch of strange streets he wasn't quite sure he recognized in the dark.

Cooper looked up, disoriented and half asleep, " Right, two streets, left, one street, left, three streets, right, one street, left, third house on the right."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh as he committed Cooper's directions, that sounded more like a strange dance moves than anything else, to memory. When he took the final left and counted three houses down on the right, he was relieved to find Allison's car parked in the driveway.

Blaine got out of the car and hurried over to the passenger's side where Cooper was starting to get out of the car on his own.

"I'm not that drunk," Cooper muttered.

"Well it seems like you need some help. Come on, Coop," Blaine said putting his arm around his brother's shoulders, tugging Cooper beside him as they moved, slowly, towards the front door. Where Allison was waiting.

"I thought you two were going to need a ride home, so I waited up," she told Blaine.

Blaine smiled at his sister-in-law. He'd always liked Allison; sometimes even thought she was wasting her time with Cooper, who sometimes acted more like a child than any of the kids in his class. But she loved him, and it was apparent in the smile she gave Cooper even though he was coming home like a frat boy on a Friday night instead of the grown man she'd married. To her, she wasn't wasting a minute. Loving someone completely, flaws included, could never be wasteful. It was beautiful.

Allison wrapped her arms around Cooper's other side, "I've got this, Blaine. Go on up to bed."

Blaine nodded but vowed to at least help her get Cooper to the couch. Cooper muttered something that neither Allison nor Blaine understood, he was half asleep by then, right before he was unceremoniously dumped onto the couch where Allison vowed he would stay for the rest of the night.

"Blaine, really," Allison whispered, "You can go to bed now."

Blaine whispered goodnight and kissed Allison on the cheek and headed towards the stairs. He could feel the weight of the hour beginning to push down on him, looking forward to getting into bed and falling asleep. As he climbed the first step he reached to his back pocket and stopped completely.

"Crap."

"What," Allison said appearing beside him.

"I think I left my wallet at the bar," Blaine told her, "I'm going to head back up there and see if it's there."

"Are you sure it can't wait until it's light out?"

"Yeah," Blaine said, "I'll be right back."

"Are you sure you can find your way there?"

"I'll figure it out," Blaine said, "Toss a blanket on Cooper and go to bed. No need to wait up for me."

Blaine heard Allison tell him goodnight as he walked out the door for a post-midnight adventure.

* * *

Kurt took the broom from where it was leaning in the corner and began his nightly attempt at wrangling in all the fallen French fries, nutshells, and other debris that managed to dirty the floor, into a pile so that he could start mopping before it got too late.

He was alone, relishing in the quiet of the bar that, not more than thirty minutes before, had been alive and loud. Santana had offered to stay and help him clean up, like she did every night they worked together, but Kurt enjoyed this part of the night as much as any other. The stereo system was turned off, the jukebox plugged in and softly playing songs from a time before him own. It was peaceful, and Kurt was happy to be only with his thoughts and his broom.

He mentally triple checked that they had enough beer for the bon fire Sunday night as he swept around the tiny stage that tonight went unused for anything more than a place that a group of girls were dancing; he reminded himself that he needed to check in with his father about just how much they were paying the band that was playing as he swept up in the corner that he remembered was occupied earlier by a group of guys who spent every Friday night here so they didn't have to be home with their wives; and as he swept in front of the bar, he thought about his own bed. How he longed for it because it was late and he was tired but how big and cold it would be when he got home. He tried to push the last thoughts from his mind before they began to multiply and fester, guaranteed to keep him awake tonight when all he wanted was the sweet release of sleep.

They'd almost won until Kurt heard the front door of the bar open behind him and footsteps against the hardwood flooring. He should have locked the door after Santana left.

Kurt stopped sweeping, but didn't turn around, "We're closed."

A few more footsteps, "I know, I'm sorry. I wasn't even sure anyone would be here, but I think I left my wallet."

Kurt slowly turned around and came face to face with a man he recognized from earlier. The man who'd ordered whiskey, a Bud Light, and a rum and coke, the man whose hazel eyes had stunned him and that he would have daydreamed about as he mopped if those same hazel eyes weren't standing right in front of him.

"I think there's a wallet behind the bar," Kurt said leaning the broom against one of the tables and walking behind the bar, "I haven't looked to see whose it was yet, but I bet it's yours."

Kurt bent down to the shelf behind the bar; to the safe spot he knew there was a wallet. He knew because he'd put it there, shortly after Blaine had ordered drinks from him.

"You're new around here," Kurt said as he grabbed the wallet.

"You can tell," he heard Blaine as he stood up.

Kurt laughed, "There's not a sign over your head, but Lima isn't exactly a big town. Everyone kind of knows everyone. Or at least of them. And I certainly don't know you."

"Blaine Anderson," he said extending his hand.

"Kurt Hummel," Kurt said placing it into Blaine's ignoring the warmth that seemed to engulf, not just his hand, but his entire body. When he let go he flipped open the wallet, peaking at Blaine's idea, smiling at the picture on his driver's license that just looked so…adorable, "Yep, that's you."

"Thank you," Blaine said taking the wallet when Kurt handed it to him.

"Anderson," Kurt said, "Are you related to Cooper?"

"Unfortunately."

"So, new guy," Kurt said coming around the bar to sit on one of the bar stools, "What brought you to incredibly dull, Lima?"

"I needed a fresh start."

"In Lima," Kurt questioned, "Most of us are trying to get out of here before we die."

Blaine took a deep breath, "A lot of not so great things have happened in the last month and by the time they were all over there wasn't anything left for me in New York, so I left. And Cooper is here and he offered me his guest room so I thought, why not?"

"I always wanted to go to New York," Kurt said with a smile, "I thought about it after high school."

"Why didn't you," Blaine asked, "If you don't mind me asking."

And surprisingly, he didn't. He didn't mind that Blaine asked and he found that he wanted to tell Blaine despite the fact that they'd only just met.

"I don't mind. Everyone around here practically knows my entire life story," Kurt said, "But the short version is that things change. People change. Dreams change."

"So you're dream went from living in New York to running a bar in Lima?"

"I've always been a fan of bossing people around," Kurt explained, "And my dad was looking to hire someone to run things since he's not exactly young anymore. I thought it was crazy leaving Hummel's to be run by someone who wasn't a Hummel and I was in the middle of a quarter-life crisis and wasn't sure what way was up. So I took it as a sign and decided to run the bar."

"And how has that turned out?"

"I think it turned out pretty well."

They talked for a while. Their mutual love for musicals and Vogue giving them plenty to talk about. It had been so long since Kurt had anyone to talk about those things that it didn't matter the hour or that he was tired, he felt his energy renew as he told Blaine about his days in Glee Club and how Broadway had once been his dream. But he reminded himself that he had been a kid when he'd dreamt that.

"When did it get so late," Blaine exclaimed when he'd taken the pause in conversation to check his phone.

"It was late when you got here."

"Then when did it get _this_ late? I'm sorry about that, by the way. I just kind of panicked."

"Don't worry about it."

"I should get going."

"Right," Kurt said, "I need to finish mopping this floor."

"Again, I'm sorry I bothered you."

"Don't be," Kurt said, a big gigantic smile on his face, "It was really nice meeting you, Blaine."

"I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," Kurt said in a breathy voice, "Definitely."

Blaine waved goodbye and turned back towards the door, the sound of each of his footsteps hitting the hardwood played like a note of sad song every time he took a step away from Kurt. Because Kurt felt like he'd just made a promise, or that maybe a promise was being made to him. That Blaine was a promise. Of what? He wasn't sure. But for the first time in a very, very long time, something opened up deep inside of Kurt and he suddenly couldn't wait to find out.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please review and let you know what you thought! I'm not quite sure what my updating schedule is going to be but I'm aiming for every 7-10 days. I've got a lot of things written and outlined so that shouldn't be a problem.

As always you can follow me on twitter ( thatgleekychick) for a better idea of when things are coming. I also tend to live tweet when I write.

Have a great day!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **Hello, darlings. I'm sorry this took so long to get up but I decided to make some not-small changes, so I got behind. And then it got monstrously long and I decided to split the chapter into 2 seperate chapters. So what you have here is the first part of that.

Thank you so much for all the love for Chapter 1. It means so very much to me!

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Blaine spent most of Saturday preparing for school to start on Tuesday. There were lesson plans to create, supplies to gather, and he had to pick out the perfect outfit for his first day teaching at a new school. He not only had to impress a group of five and six year olds, he had to impress the rest of the faculty. He dragged Cooper along with him on three different trips to get the supplies he needed, the things that wouldn't be making the journey from New York. He drove the car he'd purchased from Jeff's brother every time, trying his best to learn the routes to places other than the bar and to the school. Because only then would he be able to let Lima feel like home.

By the time dinner rolled around, Blaine's school bag was packed and he had several boxes of things that he would bring to the school Monday morning. He was ready. But that didn't stop him from double, triple, quadruple, "Blaine, if you go upstairs and check that bag one more time, I'm going to be an only child," checking.

Blaine had intended to leave Sunday as a day of rest and relaxation. He was going to sit around on the couch with Cooper, watch football and just be. When he walked into the living room just after noon he was still dressed in pair of black sweatpants that were just slightly too big and a t-shirt he'd had since high school with the Dalton Academy mascot, the Warbler, fading into the thinning navy blue fabric.

"We ordered lunch from Hummel's," Cooper informed him not looking away from the TV.

"Oh," Blaine replied trying his voice neutral, hoping that his brother wouldn't notice the excitement in his voice cause by the mere mention of a bar, his eyes trained on the TV.

"Their burgers are spectacular and their onion rings," Cooper turned his gaze toward Blaine then closed his eyes and paused for dramatic effect. It made Blaine a bit uncomfortable, "are divine. Do you want me come with to pick it up?"

"I can go," Blaine said immediately.

"You can drive if you want."

"No, I can go. By myself," Blaine said, his words rushed, the butterflies dancing inside him, happy, nervous, excited. "Really. Just sit down and watch the game. I've got this."

And he did. Until he pulled into Hummel's parking lot. Until he realized that he had been in such a hurry to get to Hummel's that he'd left the house without changing.

Blaine banged his head against the steering wheel. What was he doing? The only reason he'd agreed to come to Hummel's, and was desperate to do it alone, was because he was holding on to the tiniest bit of hope that he would get the chance to see Kurt. The chance was small, but he had to take it.

Because when Blaine wasn't freaking out about lesson plans and how many washable markers he had, he was thinking about Kurt. His mind continuously flashed back to the other night, inside the bar he was currently parked outside of, remembering how easy it had been to sit and talk to a total stranger, who he happened to find out he had a lot in common with. A total stranger who happened to be breathtakingly gorgeous. Blaine thought about Kurt's eyes while putting a lesson plan together about the color blue. He thought about how Kurt's eyes seemed a little sad, or maybe it was the late hour, but they still had been absolutely mesmerizing, a stunning shade of blue, as Kurt told him of how he'd come to run the bar and of his father. If Cooper had known about the extra hour Blaine had spent at Hummel's Friday night, he'd have accused Blaine, loudly, of his ulterior motives for picking up lunch. And Blaine definitely had ulterior motives. He'd developed a pretty serious crush in a day and a half.

Blaine forced himself out of the car, continuing his mental reprimand for not changing his outfit, and into the restaurant. Inside, the sunlight was coming in from the open blinds, illuminating the foyer that Friday night had been packed with people. Today, there was no one to greet him, and there were only two rather small crowds gathered around two rather large televisions, one on either side of the bar. But otherwise, there were only a couple of other tables occupied. Blaine's gaze went to the bar, desperately seeking someone to help him, a specific someone, and tried to suppress the disappointment that bubbled inside him when Kurt was nowhere in sight. The only staff members he could see were the waiter serving drinks to one of the groups of game-watchers and a waitress behind the counter with his back to him. It had been so long since he'd been like this: starry-eyed, anxious, hopeful. He was acting like a teenager instead of a twenty-nine year old man. He'd been so wrapped up in the excitement of it all that he'd forgotten how devastating it was when things don't turn out the way you plan them. Accepting that his hopes were crushed, at least for today, Blaine approached the counter.

"Pick up for Anderson," Blaine said to get the waitress's attention. When she turned around Blaine immediately recognized her from the other night. He remembered her name was Santana.

"Just a minute," she muttered, sounding bored, then disappeared behind a swinging double door off to her right.

While he waited, Blaine leaned against the bar and looked over at the Browns game that was playing on the television. They were down by three with two minutes until half-time. He'd get back just in time for third quarter to start, and if he was lucky Cooper would let him look over lesson plans while they watched.

"Blaine."

At the sound of his name, Blaine turned back towards the bar and was shocked to find Kurt stand there in much different attire than he'd had on Friday night. Today he looked more professional: black slacks, a blue button down dress shirt, the top few buttons undone, nearly doing the same to Blaine. And Blaine was dressed like he'd just rolled out of bed.

"Hey," Blaine said trying to hide the mixture of anxiety, excitement and embarrassment that rushed through his entire body when he saw Kurt. Somehow seeing him in the sunlight had only enhanced Kurt's features, Blaine's memory of Friday night not doing the real Kurt justice. He tried desperately not to be the bumbling idiot he'd been at the bar on Friday night, "I didn't see you when I came in."

"I was in the back," Kurt explained with a smile, "Getting your order ready."

When the phone order for Anderson came in, Kurt had immediately made it his personal project. It was Sunday afternoon, and he was mostly at the bar in a managerial capacity, making sure orders were placed and working out the employee schedule for the next week. But when he heard the order come through, he dropped everything. Maybe it was stupid—and he heard the scoff come from Santana—and maybe Blaine wouldn't come to pick up the order, and maybe none of it was even for him. But Kurt had made his mission to make sure that the order was perfect.

"Oh, thanks," Blaine said, "My brother said you guys had amazing burgers and then got a little inappropriate about the onion rings.

Kurt laughed, "He's not the only one. Your total is $23.68."

Blaine reached into his pocket took out his wallet.

"You remembered your wallet this time," Kurt teased.

"Yeah," Blaine laughed as he handed Kurt the money, "Thank you, again. For holding onto it the other night."

"It was no problem," Kurt said handing Blaine his receipt.

"I'll see you around," Blaine said grabbing the bag and walking towards the door. He waited until he back was to the counter and smiled so brightly he could have lit up Time Square. His heart was soaring at the same time that it pounded in his chest. He felt alive in a way that he hadn't since he came to Lima. And then Kurt called his name just before he reached the doors of the bar, and his heart stopped.

Blaine turned around to find Kurt standing where he'd left him, behind the bar, but now Santana was at his side, giving him a stern look that Blaine couldn't understand, her hand on her hip.

"Do you—do you have any plans tonight," Kurt asked.

Blaine took a step closer to the bar, "Not really. I was just going to go home and watch football with Cooper all night."

"Oh, I don't want to bother you if you've got plans."

"He said no, you idiot," Santana said slamming the glass she'd been wiping down on the counter and using the rag to lash at Kurt's shoulder. Then she turned her attention to Blaine, "What's your name? Brian? Brian, what my terribly ridiculous friend is trying to ask you is if you have any intention of attending the bon fire tonight and if you don't would you consider attending it with him?"

"Santana—"

"Oh," Blaine said, "I'd love to. I mean if that's really what you're asking."

"I'm sorry, Santana lacked the ability to be subtle," Kurt said, "But yes, maybe not in those words, but that's what I was asking."

"I'd be honored," Blaine said with a smile. A great big, cat caught the canary smile.

Santana groaned and muttered something that sounded a bit like "I'm not ready for this shit" but tossed a towel over her shoulder and walked back through the double doors.

Blaine walked back over to the counter, ripped the receipt off his bag and scribbled his number on the back of it with the pen that was sitting on the bar and then handed it to Kurt.

"That is my number. Text me the location and I'll figure out how to get there."

"We could meet here," Kurt said, "The bar is going to close early and it's just a couple of blocks down. It's supposed to be a nice night, we could walk."

"Yeah, that'd be great."

"Great. Awesome," Kurt said with a toothy grin, "I'll see you here, around eight?"

"I'll see you at eight," Blaine repeated grabbing his bag and heading for the door once again. There was an extra spring in his step, his heart soared just a bit higher and he drove back home singing happily along with the radio.

* * *

Kurt arrived back at Hummel's at 7:45. Normally, the empty and the quiet of the bar was soothing, but tonight it only gave Kurt the peace and quiet to freak himself out twice, nearly texting Blaine to cancel before he took a deep breath and tried to remember what it was like to be a rational human being. And then he threw himself into a chair and asked himself, "What the hell am I doing?"

If you had asked him last month, last week, even Friday afternoon before he'd gone into work if he was ready, or even willing to date again, he would have told you outright—without a shadow of a doubt—that he wasn't. That his heart was still trying to mend itself from that last time that it had been broken. That he was happy the way things were and he had no intention of changing that. But then Blaine—handsome and charming—walked into his bar and suddenly everything changed without his permission. And without warning, something inside him, that had been dormant for over a year, woke up. And every thought Blaine could spare went to Blaine. Handsome, adorable, charming Blaine.

Kurt had made the mistake the next morning of telling Santana all about Blaine sitting in the kitchen the next morning. He'd told her about how Blaine had come back to the bar after they'd closed to get his forgotten wallet and how they somehow spent the next hour talking about everything and nothing. And how he'd woken up tired, but excited, giddy even, as he told his best friend about the guy who was still just a stranger.

"Even if you just sleep with him," Santana had told him before he left for the bar, "It'll be good for you."

"Santana, I'm not looking for that," Kurt told her, "I'm not even sure I'm looking for anything."

"Well you should be," Santana said reaching out to pick at Kurt's shirt only to have her hands swatted away, "It's time for you to mount the proverbial horse. Or the actual gay man."

Kurt wasn't sure if he loved or hated his best friend.

"This," Santana waved her hand in a circle in front of Kurt, "This lovesick teenager thing. It looks good on you."

Kurt had just rolled his eyes. Santana may not have the most conventional way of saying things, but everything she said was always in his best interest. If she hadn't said anything earlier when Blaine had come into Hummel's he probably would have lost his nerve and let Blaine leave without a mention of the bonfire. And then he would have had to pine after Blaine until the next time they saw each other. No wonder Santana had been so determined.

A pair of headlights came through the window, pulling Kurt from his thoughts. Blaine was here and there was no way he could back out now. He pushed back the fear away from the front of his mind as he got up and went to meet Blaine at his car.

"Hey," Kurt had said.

"Hey," Blaine had responded, his smile making everything inside Kurt melt.

"Ready to go," Kurt asked.

"Where exactly are we going," Blaine asked.

"There's a field just past Orchard Road. It's never really had a purpose aside from being a large empty slab of land. But every year, on the Sunday before Labor Day, it's where everyone chooses to congregate."

"Well, then lead the way."

"Follow me," Kurt said taking off down the street.

"I'm quite fascinated by all these small town quirks," Blaine said half a block later.

"You call them quirks; we call them things we do to keep ourselves from dying of boredom."

"I've just never experienced anything like this."

"Did you grow up in New York?"

"No," Blaine told him, "We—my parents and I—moved there the summer before I started high school from Connecticut. It was all suburbia before then, nothing like this."

"Rich boy, eh," Kurt joked.

"No, not really. I mean, my family has money. But I'm a teacher and Cooper's working construction. I think we're both far away from the white collar dreams our parents had for us."

"Were your parents disappointed," Kurt asked.

"Probably a little," Blaine said, "But we both followed our hearts."

Kurt hummed in response and then turned left at the corner and then they were there. Across the street was an open space occupied by many people, all gathered in groups, sitting on folding chairs around fire pits. The girls were dressed in short skirts and bikini tops, the boys in tanks and t-shirts. Lima was a far cry from the beach, but its people made the best of the last days of summer.

"Live music," Blaine asked noticing the stage setup across the field.

"This bonfire has been a Lima tradition since before my parents even opened the bar. It was just a bunch of twenty-somethings with loud music coming from a hundred different stereos, drinking out of their coolers. But when my parents opened the restaurant, they decided to partner with the organizers and they started selling beer and they paid for a band and then, according to legend, it didn't suck anymore. Now we send staff to help out and it's a day people look forward to every year."

"Wow," Blaine commented, "That's kind of amazing."

"I can't really take credit for it, it was all my dad's doing," Kurt said, "But it's a nice way for everyone to end the summer. It was my mom's favorite day of the year that wasn't my birthday."

"Was?"

"She died, when I was eight."

"Oh wow. Kurt, I'm sorry."

"I make sure that I come every year because I never got to go with her. The night is still young, but once everything gets going, I completely understand why she loved it so much."

Blaine reached out and grabbed onto Kurt's hand where it had been hanging at his side. He held it firmly as an attempt at comfort, as a show of support, and because he'd been thinking about it since they'd started their journey from the front of the bar. Blaine smiled when Kurt's hand shifted in his own until their fingers were laced together.

Now connected, Kurt dragged them towards a tent next to the stage. Inside stood a couple of makeshift bars being manned by several Hummel's staff members. He only recognized Puck who was standing behind one of the bars making drinks, mostly beer in plastic cups, for the long line of people waiting.

"I'll be right back," Kurt said letting go of Blaine's hand and disappearing behind the bar that Puck was at. He grabbed two long neck bottles from the tub, whispering something to Puck, and heading back towards Blaine.

Kurt handed one of the bottles to Blaine, "Job perk."

When the band began to play, Kurt grabbed onto Blaine's hand and dragged them towards the stage. There were five guys standing on stage in black skinny jeans and neon shirts, introducing themselves as Sunkist Rainbow and Kurt mentally vowed to make sure that Puck was never in charge of booking the band again.

But once they started playing, some poppy-punk hybrid, they weren't so bad. They just had a really terrible name. The music was catchy and around them some people were bobbing their heads to the music, while others were dancing wildly in groups. The music slowed a bit and Kurt turned to Blaine.

"Dance with me," Kurt said.

"I'd love to," Blaine responded.

It was then that Kurt noticed that they were still holding hands; that neither of them had let go while they were standing there. Kurt used it to his advantage and used their joined hands to pull Blaine towards him; his free hand settling on Blaine's hip as they began swaying with the melody of Sunkist Rainbow. Blaine's hand fell onto his shoulder and Kurt felt like he was flying. Like he was thousands of feet in the air and Blaine had put him there. Blaine had come into his life and turned it upside down. And he wasn't sure he wanted to be put back. He wasn't sure he wanted to do anything but stay in that moment with Blaine, whose fingers were brushing lightly over the skin at the top of his collar bone sending shivers through his entire body. He'd told Santana that he wasn't sure if he was looking for anything, and he wasn't. He wasn't looking but he'd found something, he'd found Blaine. Or maybe Blaine found him. Either way, dancing with Blaine, being close to Blaine, was making all those lonely months seem like a distance memory, a tiny candle dancing in the distance. One he knew would eventually burn out—replaced with the fire beginning to roar inside him. The one that had been sparked by Blaine.

When the band took a break, Kurt led them back towards the beer tent, leaving Blaine outside while he went in to grab a couple more drinks. While Kurt was inside, Blaine sat down underneath a tree where Kurt would see him when he came back out. He was high. On life, on Lima, on Kurt. He'd been afraid that all his pain was going to follow him to Lima, and maybe it had. But then there was Kurt, who chased all of the dark clouds away with a smile. Blaine spotted Kurt coming out of the tent and his heart swell when Kurt looked momentarily confused, and then smiled brightly when he spotted Blaine.

"I'm having fun," Blaine said as Kurt sat down next to him, handing him another beer. He could hear the content sound in his own voice, one that had been gone for so long. He only hoped that Kurt could hear it too.

"Me too," Kurt said as though two simple words could describe what he was really feeling.

Was it possible to feel peaceful and one fire at the same time? Sitting beside Blaine, shoulder to shoulder, a warm summer breeze dancing around them, Kurt thought it was. For the first time in a very, very long time, Kurt felt content, the ghosts that had been haunting him, his head and his heart, were quiet for the first time in over a year. There was something not at all unpleasant beginning to roar inside him. He felt a heat wash over him like a wave that had nothing to do with the breeze of the alcohol he'd consumed. It was his heart, thawing out after a long chill. After a time when he thought he'd never feel like this again, when he kept everyone who wasn't his family or close friends at an arm's length, he found himself capable of feeling like this, content with letting someone get close to him, to giving his heart out to someone else. And Blaine had shown him no reason why he couldn't be trusted with it. There was something about Blaine that made it easy for Kurt to want to give his heart to Blaine. Slowly, of course. But he was willing to take the risk.

Kurt turned his head to look at Blaine, right into his eyes like warm caramel, "I like you," he whispered.

"I like you, too," Blaine responded reaching out and entwining their hands. Everything seemed so much better when they were holding hands.

It wasn't anything epic. It wasn't a grand gesture at the end of a heartfelt speech. It wasn't a moment of release after a heated argument. There hadn't been tense moments of will-they-won't-they. But it had just enough spark to light a flame. It was the most perfect gentle kiss, lips pressed against lips, fingers entwined between them. It wasn't long and rather chaste but Blaine's entire body felt like it was on fire and Kurt wanted to continue to do kiss Blaine until he was certain that he'd never forget what Blaine's lips felt like upon his own.

When they broke apart, their eyes found each other, holding each other the way their hands were, tight and connected.

Kurt smiled and stood up still holding onto Blaine's hand.

"You want to go somewhere else," Kurt said looking down at Blaine.

Blaine smiled and nodded getting to his feet as Kurt began them back in the direction of Hummel's.

* * *

Walking into Hummel's—still holding on tightly to Kurt's hand—the light's down, no music and no people reminded Blaine of the night he'd met Kurt. In the early morning hours of the same empty bar, they talked like old friends instead of strangers. They caught up instead of getting to know each other.

Kurt didn't let go of Blaine's hand until they were in the heart of the bar when he walked over to the jukebox, plugged it in and hit a couple of buttons and a moment later it started playing, soft and low.

"I thought that was just decoration," Blaine told him.

"It is," Kurt said giving it a pat, "But it works."

Blaine nodded listening to the melody from a song long ago while he watched Kurt watch him.

"Sit," Kurt said gesturing to the bar, to the empty stools, "This one's on the house."

As Blaine sat down, Kurt went around the bar and pulled two glasses from the rack.

"Whatareya havin'? What's your go-to drink?"

"Uh, whiskey, I guess. On the rocks."

"Interesting," Kurt said as he proceeded to fill both glasses with ice and then grabbing a bottle behind him, filled both half way.

"Thanks," Blaine said as Kurt handed him his glass.

"Why whiskey," Kurt asked taking a sip from his glass.

Blaine gave Kurt a confused look over the rim of his glass as he did the same, "Huh?"

"There is one thing I've learned about working in this bar for so many years, and that's is that most people have a reason for their go-to drink," Kurt explained, "I know that my father will take a beer over anything else and he says that is because that's what he drank with is dad growing up. I know that when I was a junior in high school Santana and I thought it would be a good idea to drink an entire pitcher of vodka lemonade and now I won't go anywhere near the vodka part of that combination."

Blaine had never really thought about the reason he drank whiskey. He just liked it. But as he thought about it for a moment, he soon realized that the answer…was Cooper.

"Alright. So, if you haven't noticed there are more than a few years difference between Cooper and myself," Blaine started, "So one summer—god, I had to be fifteen—my parents were out of town and despite the fact that I've always been more of an adult than Cooper ever was, he was in charge. There were rules: no girls, no parties, no leaving me alone all night. But Cooper was twenty-two and it was the summer and I think it he was only going to be in town for like a week before he took off on some adventure, and he wasn't about to miss out on the chance to take advantage of an empty house.

"Anyway, I was up in my room, probably reading, and I decided that I wanted something from the kitchen so I wandered downstairs and there were a dozen people in my house. I don't even know if Cooper knew them all. When Cooper spotted me, he handed me a glass, his glass, and told me that it was time I got my first taste of being a man. And then I took my first sip of alcohol, whiskey. I didn't drink any more than night; I don't even think I liked it then. I just went back up to my room. I didn't drink much as a teenager, but most of what I did was with Cooper and it was always the same, a glass of whiskey. I guess it somehow became my thing because it was our thing."

"See. I told you," Kurt said with cocky smirk on his face, "everyone has a reason. And it's almost never because it tastes good."

"So what about you," Blaine said leaning his elbows on the bar, giving Kurt his full attention, "What's your go-to drink. You've only said that you avoid vodka."

"Amaretto Stone Sour," Kurt said, his voice suddenly less bubbly than it had been a moment before, "It was my mom's favorite and when I found out, I made Santana make me one. They've kind of stuck with my ever since. And it's a plus that it just happens to taste like heaven."

"Come sit with me," Blaine said gesturing to the stool next to him. It was vacant and Kurt was so very far away from him.

Blaine smiled when Kurt smiled again, then came around the bar and took the seat next to him, his body turned towards Blaine. Blaine turned himself towards Kurt, their knees beginning to slot together as Blaine pulled his stool closer to Kurt.

"Better," Kurt asked with a playful smile.

"Much," Blaine reached out and took hold Kurt's hand.

The feel of Kurt's hand in his, their fingers entwined, made Blaine feel grounded despite the fact that nothing had felt right since he'd arrived in Lima. Not until Kurt had kissed him at the bonfire, not until they sat close to each other in an empty, dimly lit bar.

"Since you didn't know about the bonfire, I'm going to assume you know nothing about the parade," Kurt asked.

"Bonfires and parades," Blaine said faking astonishment, "You and my brother might want to rethink your definitions of boring."

"Don't worry. After the next couple of days are over, you'll know exactly what we mean."

"Yes, you assume correctly. This is the first I'm hearing of a parade."

"Would you like to watch it with me? I have to work the lunch shift right after, but I have most of the morning off. I could meet you there, we could walk around, make fun of the floats."

It was a simple request but it made everything inside of Blaine dance and his face brightened, "That sounds like fun."

"It can be," Kurt said, "And you'll get to see the float for the bar."

"I'm intrigued."

"Good," Kurt smiled broadly, "So, I'll meet you there. Around 10?"

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

"Do you know where I'd rather be right now," Kurt asked leaning forward, his voice falling just above a whisper.

"Where," Blaine answered back, gazing candidly at Kurt. His entire body calling out for what he hoped would happen next.

"Here," Kurt said, "Doing this."

This kiss was different from the one they'd shared at the bonfire. That one had been tentative and innocent, testing the feelings they'd both developed over the last few days. This kiss was much, _much_ more. Kurt's lips were hungry for Blaine's as he pulled Blaine by the front of his shirt until they were close enough for Kurt to lean in and close the rest of the distance between them. He smiled when Blaine responded immediately, his hand settling on Kurt's hip, his thumb skimming across the fabric there. Blaine's mouth was so warm, the caress of his lips softer than Kurt could have imagined. Kurt tasted tentatively with his tongue, and Blaine opened his mouth with a loan moan. Kurt could taste the whiskey on Blaine's lips. It didn't have the bite that it had from a glass, but it still caused a fire to burn within Kurt and he happily got lost in the flames. There was nothing else in the world but Blaine's lips, Blaine's arms, and the pleasurable burn they brought to Kurt's entire body.

"You're intoxicating," Blaine breathed, pulling away from their kiss to rest his forehead against Kurt's.

"You sure that's not just the alcohol?"

"Very," Blaine responded leaning in to kiss Kurt again.

Kurt shifted beneath Blaine's hand—which seemed to be unable to touch one part of Kurt for more than a moment before moving on to discover a new part of him—until he was standing and slotted between Blaine's knees, his arms wrapped around Blaine's neck, his fingers running through the hair at the nape. Blaine pulled Kurt closer, letting out a satisfied moan once Kurt was pressed against him completely. When Kurt pulled away, his breathing was heavy, his lips shifting into a roguish smile, while his eyes exchanged a scorching look with Blaine's.

"Dance with me," he whispered.

"What?"

Kurt pulled back slightly, but remained in Blaine's hold, "I want to dance with you."

"We danced at the bonfire," Blaine said chasing Kurt's lips with his own, capturing them briefly before Kurt pulled away again.

"I know," Kurt reached for Blaine's hand where it was resting against his neck, "But I want to dance again."

It only took a moment before, "okay," left Blaine's lips. Because he wanted nothing more than to give Kurt everything that was in his power to give him. And if it was something as simple as a dance or as grand as the moon, he'd find a way to do it.

So they danced. In the middle of the empty bar—the lights low, the music from the jukebox playing—as they wrapped themselves around each other, swaying along with the rhythm of the music.

Kurt leaned his head against Blaine's as they moved, taking a deep breath, breathing in Blaine like fresh air, letting Blaine fill his lungs as well as his heat with something he hadn't truly felt in so long.

Blaine held Kurt tighter, letting his warmth begin to seep into his body, to begin to defrost the parts of him that had been cold. Kurt was like the start of spring, bringing the world, _Blaine's world_, back to life when it had been dull and gray for so long.

They danced all night, trading kisses and dancing along to whatever song came on the jukebox. Even once the songs began to repeat. And when the sun came up…they danced some more.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Gonna give this chapter an extra special dedication: shout out to all the mom's out there on Mother's Day...and to Cory, on his birthday. We miss you, baby! And love you SO much! **

* * *

When Blaine let himself into the house, the sun was still slowly peaking over the horizon, its first rays were coming through the windows, illuminating the living room in a bold orange, and he was smiling. He'd been awake for nearly twenty four hours and there were only a few hours before he needed to go to the school and finish setting up his classroom, but underneath the tiredness and obligation, was something Blaine hadn't felt in a long time. Happiness; and the hope that this feeling—this vivacious, heart soaring, face beaming, totally blissed out rush—would stick around this time. He wanted to sing at the top of his lungs and dance on water and even though his feet were on the ground, he was flying; with only Kurt to tether him.

He could still feel the ghost of Kurt's lips against his, could still remember what Kurt felt like wrapped in his arms, what it felt like to be wrapped in Kurt's. The alcohol had worn off hours ago, while they danced around the empty bar, but Blaine still felt drunk. He felt intoxicated by everything that was Kurt Hummel and he had no intention of making any of it go away. They'd kissed goodbye in front of Hummel's, and there had been a promise. A promise of later and more. And Blaine was in such a euphoric haze that he barely noticed Cooper in the kitchen, dressed and ready for his morning jog, until his brother was calling his name.

"Are you just getting in," Cooper asked taking a sip from his coffee cup.

"Yeah," Blaine's grin is shameless.

"If I would have known, I would have been worried.

Blaine laughed, "No need. I was in good hands."

"Considering you're coming home with the sun, I'm assuming you had fun with Sam."

Blaine had forgotten that he'd lied to his brother the night before about who he was going out with. He knew how he brother could be: he'd ask a million questions, he'd tease, he'd want to know how it went. But until Blaine knew exactly what was going on with Kurt, he'd keep it all to himself. He didn't want to see the look on Cooper's face if it didn't go well. He didn't want any more of his brother's pity.

The night before had been beyond Blaine's wildest dreams, but he still didn't know what was really going on with Kurt. He just knew that it was new and wonderful, and that maybe later he'd tell Cooper about Kurt. But for now, he just told Cooper that he had a blast, a sheepish smile on face. He went up to his room to get a little sleep without another word.

* * *

Only a few hours later, Blaine stood behind the desk that he would call his own for the next nine months. Sam had offered his truck, and his assistance, to move some of the boxes from Cooper's house to the school and Blaine was grateful for the help. And the friend.

In the corner of the room, Sam was currently flipping through Blaine's collection of picture books before putting them on the bookshelf, while Blaine was busy taking in the weight of the day. In less than twenty-four hours he'd be joined in that room by sixteen rambunctious boys and girls who would sit at the four, currently empty, tables. It had been a long time since Blaine had felt so nervously excited. The room was decorated for fall, despite it still being—and feeling like—summer outside. But it would only be a few short weeks until the official beginning of the season and before he knew it, it would be Halloween, than Thanksgiving, then Christmas and the thought of watching the room evolve as the school year went on, and as the children themselves began to learn and grow, made Blaine giddy.

What also made Blaine heart soar were the texts he'd gotten all morning from Kurt. Since the night before, Blaine felt like he was living inside a dream. Kissing Kurt under the stars had been unexpected and magical and amazing. And kissing him and _feeling_ him on that bar stool had been something out of this world. He was sure—after everything that happened with Jason—that it would take him forever to find someone who could make him forget all the pain, and make him look forward to all the happiness that tomorrow could bring. And in only a matter of days, he'd found Kurt. Kurt, who could bring him that happiness with something as simple as a Good Morning text message.

Blaine glanced at his watch. He was supposed to meet Kurt at ten and if he didn't leave soon, he'd be late. And Blaine wanted nothing more than to spend every available minute with Kurt. Starting the next day, there would be jobs and other obligations; but today, at least for a few hours, it could still be all about them. Blaine did a quick check of the room, one final time and then turned to Sam.

"You ready to go," Blaine asked.

Sam put the book he was looking at down and then focused his attention on Blaine, "Not until you tell me."

Blaine narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow, "Tell you what?"

"Why you lied to your brother?"

"About what?" Blaine lied. How did Sam know about this?

"Dude, that's how this bro thing works. I don't have a problem lying for you, but you at least have to tell me why I'm doin' it. Your brother texted me to like, I don't know, check up on you last night. And we both know you weren't with me."

"What did you tell him?"

"That you were having a great time. But I haven idea if you actually were because you weren't actually with me."

"I was," Blaine said beaming, "Having a good time I mean."

"But if not with me then…," Sam prompted.

Blaine slumped his shoulders and sighed, "Fine," he took a breath, "I was with Kurt."

"Kurt," Sam repeated, "Kurt Hummel?"

"Is there more than one Kurt around here?"

"No, but like—dude—are you guys like a thing now?"

"I-I don't know," Blaine said, his cheeks warming. It was the truth despite how much he could see being a constant part of his life, "Though, I think we're both a little too old to have anything that qualifies as 'a thing'"

"Right, right, of course," Sam said running his fingers through his hair, "Are you sure about this?"

"About Kurt?"

"Yeah."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I-It's—no reason. Forget I said anything."

"Sam," Blaine said, "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing. Really, forget I said anything. You both deserve to be happy."

"Uh, thank you," Blaine said, "I'm actually supposed to meet Kurt this morning, but I need to make sure everything's locked up."

"Cool," Sam said, "I'll just run this box back out to the truck. I'll meet you there."

"Thanks," Blaine said as Sam left the room.

Blaine wouldn't get another chance to check things over until the next morning, but he was ready. For school, and to get to the parade; so he could see Kurt. Blaine left the classroom, shutting the door behind him, and was heading towards the parking lot when someone called out behind him.

"Hey."

Blaine stopped and turned to see a woman, probably a couple of years older than himself, walking toward him. She was dressed in denim capris and a white t-shirt, her brown hair was cut in a short bob.

"You're Blaine, right," she asked as she approached.

"Uh, yeah," Blaine responded, "you are?"

"Claudia," the woman said extending her hand, "Claudia Valente. I teach second grade."

Bewildered, Blaine shook her hand.

"Principal Pillsbury told me we had a new kindergarten teacher and I wanted to introduce myself."

"It's nice to meet you, Claudia."

"Likewise. I've worked here for a few years now, so if you need anything, just let me know."

"Oh, uh, thanks. That's very nice of you."

"You're welcome," Claudia said turning back around and heading back down the hallway she came from, calling "I'll see you around, Blaine," as she walked away.

The second Claudia was just a few steps away, Blaine anxiously checked his watched. He'd have time later for kind co-workers. But now he had to get to Kurt and hurried to the parking lot.

* * *

"Have you even been to bed?" Santana asked Kurt who was sitting at his kitchen table, the largest cup of coffee he could find in front of him.

"I got, like, two hours of sleep," Kurt said smiling into his coffee cup before taking a sip, like two hours was enough.

Today was going to be a busy day; it was always one of the busiest days of the year for him, the bar, and the entire town. Running on two hours of sleep wasn't wise. But he thought back to the night before, to Blaine, without a single regret. He'd do it all over again.

"Maybe you should take off," Santana said sitting down in the chair next to Kurt, "spend the whole day in bed."

"You're crazy. I can't do that. Not today," Not ever, really.

"Ok, listen to me for a second, Kurt," Santana said seriously. Something she very rarely did, "You work took much. Maybe you don't need to work six days a week anymore."

"And then how would things get done?"

"You can hire, or promote, an assistant manager," Santana suggested, leaning back in her chair.

"You mean you?" Kurt said with playful accusation.

"I mean, yes, I'd kick some serious ass and you should strongly consider it, but it doesn't have to be me," she said, "just someone whose there to do stupid things like order beer and make sure the landscaping is taken care of."

"The whole point of me taking over Hummel's was so that there was a Hummel running it."

"I'm not asking you to quit. I'm just saying that it'll be good for you to take some more time off. I already talked to Burt. He's totally cool with it."

"Santana," Kurt scolded. If she'd already put the idea into his father's head, Kurt was certain it would be a long time before this particular conversation was dropped.

"Kurt, you deserve this. You deserve more time to yourself. Especially since you've got a new boy toy to keep you out until the sun comes up."

Kurt couldn't keep the smile from his face.

"So," she said clasping her hands together and tucking them underneath her chin, leaning into the table, "Are you going to fill me in on your night of reckless abandon."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "I didn't sleep with him if that's what you're asking."

"That's a shame."

"I am meeting him at the parade though."

"Good. Good. You seem…happy. Exhausted, but happy."

"I'd rather be exhausted and happy then exhausted and sad."

"Which is why you should consider hiring someone, it doesn't have to be me, to be another manager, Kurt. You need to take care of yourself. It's been a long year, I know. But it's time to start focusing on you again. I just want you to be happy."

"Thank you, Santana. For everything."

"You're welcome," she said putting her hand over his, "Now I have a parade to get ready for."

* * *

There were people everywhere when Blaine arrived at the spot, just down the block from Hummel's, where he'd agreed to meet Kurt. There was a fluttering in his chest, the anticipation of seeing Kurt again bubbling inside him, desperate to find Kurt among the throngs of strange faces. It had only been a few hours since they said goodbye, but it felt like much longer and Blaine was eager to find Kurt. But Kurt was not waiting outside the coffee shop. Kurt was nowhere to be seen.

For a moment, Blaine panicked. He checked his phone, nothing from Kurt. It was only five minutes after ten, but he could feel the beginnings of something he recognized as disappointment and rejection beginning to fill in the space that had—just moments before—been fluttering with excitement. He did his best to push it away, upset with himself that he'd learned to expect disappointment. Hating, even more so, that he thought Kurt would disappoint him.

He jumped when he felt a hand on his back. When he turned around and came face to face with a smiling Kurt, he smiled himself. And every bit of tension that had built up inside him disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Kurt said reaching down and taking hold of Blaine's hand, "Minor float related emergency."

Blaine twined their fingers together, relishing in the way they slotted together perfectly, "I hope everything is alright."

"Everything is perfect," Kurt said leaning in and kissing Blaine. It was soft, short, and sweet. And it made Blaine's insides flutter in a way that he never wanted to get used to.

Kurt led Blaine by the hand through the crowd, claiming he knew the best spot to watch the parade. Blaine followed willingly and when Kurt stopped in front of the bank, announcing that they'd arrived at their destination, Blaine slipped behind Kurt, pulling him into his arms, wrapping them tightly around his waist, sighing happily when Kurt leaned into him.

There was a float for the peewee football team, the high school baseball team, and their cheerleaders had an impressive routine, accompanied by the bullhorn enhanced shouting of a woman who looked…well, old.

"How old is she," Blaine asked nodding in the direction of the float and the woman in the red and white track suit.

"No one knows," Kurt said leaning further into Blaine because he wanted to, "Sue Sylvester was twenty-seven when I met her and twenty-five on the day I graduated. My guess is that she'll live longer than all of us and we'll never find out."

Blaine only hooked his chin on Kurt's shoulder as a response. It was a surprising feeling: how natural it felt to hold Kurt in his arms. They were standing on the sidewalk in surrounded by hundreds of strangers, Kurt barely more than that himself; but it didn't feel like that. From the moment that Kurt kissed him, and maybe even before that, Blaine felt peace. There was never any awkwardness and he wasn't hesitant. All he wanted to do was be with Kurt: to hold him, kiss him, _touch_ him, as long as Kurt would let him.

Like the bar itself, the float for Hummel's wasn't very elaborate. There wasn't anything overly showy: there was a makeshift bar which held jerseys from each of the major Ohio sports teams. And around the bar was the Hummel's staff. He recognized Santana and Puck, but there were a few others. And a little girl holding on to Santana's hand waving a pom-pom in the other. And in the center of it all was a man in a flannel shirt and a baseball cap, waving at everyone was a gigantic smile on his face.

"Is that your dad," Blaine said into Kurt's ear.

"Yep. Burt Hummel."

"And why aren't you up there," Blaine asked instead.

"Because, despite how much time I spend there and everything I do, Hummel's is my dad's and he should be the one representing it," Kurt explained, "even if it's just in a stupid Labor Day float that he's been planning since Halloween."

The rest of the parade passed by, neither of them removing themselves from the cocoon they'd created. They commented on the floats that passed, especially the one from Trevor's Tool Shop who thought it would be a good idea to line his float with a bunch of men in jeans and t-shirts armed with chain saws.

"I can't decide if they're supposed to be hot handymen or sexy serial killers," Kurt said.

"Serial killers. Definitely serial killers."

When the last float drove by, the crowd began to dissipate—everyone going back to their lives, no longer gathered as a community. It was only then that Kurt pulled himself out of Blaine's hold, a blissful smile on his face as he turned to look at Blaine.

"I should go," he said reluctantly, "The lunch rush is going to be crazy and they'll need me back at the bar."

"Yeah, of course."

"But I'd like to see you again," Kurt said, "If you'd like."

"Yeah," Blaine said, "Yeah that'd be great."

"I was hoping you'd say that."

They shared a knowing look, but said nothing. Because now there wasn't a rush to say everything, because they would see each other again. And Blaine hoped it would be very, very soon.

Kurt took a deep breath and reached out, grabbing hold of the belt loop of Blaine's jeans, and tugged him toward him until their bodies were flush against each other. Kurt leaned in and pressed his lips to Blaine, letting it linger as he pulled away.

"I'll call you," Kurt promised, "Tomorrow."

"Alright," Blaine said and then kissed him once more.

Kurt unlatched himself from Blaine and began the short walk towards Hummel's. Blaine watched until he could no longer see him in the crowd heading back to their lives. With a smile on his face, Blaine floated back to his car. He'd never been more excited about the prospect of tomorrow.

* * *

Blaine stood in front of the classroom the same way he had the day before, only this time each of the four tables were filled with four tiny people who were probably as scared and nervous as he was to be there.

"Hi everyone," Blaine said, "I'm Mr. Anderson and welcome to your first day of Kindergarten. I'm going to take attendance, so when you hear your name, please raise your hand."

Blaine picked up his roster and for the first time, really looked at the names of the kids in his class. There was Heather Ambrose, then Kelly Austin, Michael Brooks, Amanda Clarke, Sean Collins, Dominic Delaney and then one name that made him pause.

"Kadie Hummel," Blaine called out.

A hand shot into the air and Blaine looked up to find the face of a beautiful little girl whose dark brown curls fell down past her shoulders and whose eyes, shining like sapphires, looked familiar. At the same time Blaine's stomach dropped. Because she was the little girl from the float, the one holding onto Santana's hand. A girl who looked very much like a Hummel; a girl who looked very much like Kurt. The same Kurt who he was supposed to call him that evening—he'd sent a text that morning saying so. The same Kurt that he'd spent most of the last three days completely wrapped up in. Kurt who had mentioned a father, but not a sister. Surely Kurt would have mentioned it if he…

Blaine stopped his thoughts from going there, from jumping to conclusions, to immediately calling Kurt and asking him if he knew anything about a Kadie Hummel. Instead, he took a deep breath and centered himself. He had a class to teach and it wasn't the time to be distracted. So he moved on to Olivia Moore.

The rest of the day, Blaine did his best not to see Kurt every time he looked at Kadie—who was a very active class participant. The text message from Kurt around lunch time was left unanswered.

The bell rang to signal the end of the day and Blaine let out a breath as he walked his class out of the front of the building where students would either get on a bus or be picked up by their parents. He shouldn't have been surprised when he saw Kurt standing with a group of parents, dressed like he'd just come from work. He shouldn't have been surprised when Kadie Hummel went running towards him shouting "Daddy" and leaping into his arms.

Blaine caught Kurt's eyes and he tried to smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes the way they had yesterday, when he was holding Kurt in his arms, when he was holding his hand while they walked through the crowded streets. Kurt's face remained neutral while he looked at Blaine and he only smiled when he looked down at his daughter. When another of his students, Mary, tugged on his shirt sleeve, looking for help finding her bus, Blaine was thankful for the distraction. By the time Mary was safely on her bus, Kurt and Kadie were both gone. And Blaine disappeared inside the school.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think! I'm working on Chapter 4 and will have that for you soon! Have a wonderful day! **


	4. Chapter 4

Blaine returned home after cleaning up his classroom, grateful to find that the house was empty. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and made his way up to his room, closing the door behind him. He haphazardly tossed his bag on his desk and then threw himself on the bed, staring at the ceiling as if it held all the answers to his now numerous unanswered questions. He'd left the house that morning feeling great, feeling empowered, feeling like his life was finally going in the direction that Blaine wanted it. But now he was filled with so much uncertainty. It was like he was hanging in limbo, numb to everything, unable to find footing on solid ground.

Because the universe had found a way to fuck him over yet again.

Maybe he was angry. But he wasn't angry at Kurt. He couldn't be angry at Kurt for not telling him that he had a daughter, right? They'd known each other for less than a week. Why would Kurt need to tell Blaine more than his name? Because there had been a promise made. They'd promised each other tomorrow. And now tomorrow was here and it didn't look a thing like Blaine had imagined. Tomorrow had been overshadowed by a five year old who looked very much like her daddy.

No, there wasn't a specific person to blame; it was just Blaine's cruel fate. He'd lost his job, his ex-boyfriend turned out to be a cheating bastard, and the second that he felt himself open his heart again, he was knocked down by fate's vindictive hand. Just when he'd finally put his life back into focus, everything was blurry again.

Despite all the uncertainty, Blaine knew one thing. There was no way he could date the parent of one of his students.

Blaine was just beginning to think about what that meant when his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and, seeing that it was Kurt, he hesitated for a moment. He could ignore the call, and the text messages and voicemails that would certainly follow. But he told himself that he couldn't run from this problem, there was nowhere else for him to go. And he reminded himself that he wasn't really angry with Kurt. And Kurt deserved more than to be ignored. Still, he reluctantly accepted the call and placed the phone against his ear, offering a weak hello.

"Hey," Kurt's voice was low and hesitant, as if he was expecting Blaine to react violently.

There was silence. Blaine wasn't sure what to say.

"How mad are you," the unsteadiness of Kurt's words growing.

"I'm not mad," Blaine did his best to keep his voice steady. He wasn't mad, he was just confused.

"Then you're a better person than I am."

Blaine couldn't find the words. Were there words?

"Maybe if you're not mad," Kurt asked cautiously, "then you'll meet me somewhere. Let me explain."

Blaine contemplated it for a second. Maybe he deserved an explanation. Maybe Kurt deserved the chance to explain, "I-I-Sure."

"Great, thank you," the relief was dripping from his words, "Alcohol or coffee?"

"Coffee," Blaine said despite the appeal of the sting of a glass of whiskey, "I can put a pot on if you want to come here. My brother and his wife won't be home for a little while."

"Perfect," Kurt said, "Santana is on her way over to watch Kadie and then I'll be on my way. I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay," Blaine said and hung up the phone.

The nervousness began building inside Blaine the second he started towards the kitchen. He turned the coffee pot on, watching as it began to drip drop by drop into the pot, trying to distract himself from the truth. The truth that once Kurt arrived, things would have to change. There was a line that had been crossed, one that he'd seen crossed many times before when teachers dated the parents of their students. A line Blaine promised himself a long time ago that he would never cross.

His heart raced a bit faster when he heard the doorbell. Once he answered the door there was no turning back. Once he saw Kurt again, it would be different than it had been yesterday; different than it had been when he'd woken up that morning. But he did it because he had to, because regardless of how much he didn't want any of what was about to happen, it had to. For the two of them, and for Kadie. With only a quiet greeting, Blaine let Kurt into the house, asked Kurt how he took his coffee, and disappeared into the kitchen, unable to really look at Kurt just yet. When he came back and finally forced his eyes to really see Kurt, he found him standing in the middle of the room, looking just as unsure as Blaine felt. One of the things Blaine had loved about being with Kurt was that Kurt never made him feel nervous or afraid; not in a bad way. But now standing in front of him he was terrified.

Blaine handed Kurt the coffee mug and gestured for him to sit down at the couch, Blaine took the chair adjacent. It was usually a very comfortable chair, but now it gave no comfort.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said in a rushed breath, like he couldn't hold it in any longer. The hitch not going unnoticed by Blaine, "I should have said something the night we met."

"Why didn't you?" Blaine's question wasn't accusatory. He just wanted to know.

Kurt shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I was hoping that you were feeling the same way that I was and thought that you wouldn't feel the same way if you knew I came with a five year old."

"I wouldn't have."

"I didn't know that then," Kurt said, "I didn't know what I was doing that night any more than I know what I'm doing now. Being a single and a dad was never part of the plan. And I don't have a clue how to make both of those things work together."

"What was the plan?"

Kurt shifted uncomfortably on against the couch cushions, "I don't know how to tell this story," He said, "Can I just start from the beginning?"

Blaine nodded.

"His name is Daniel," Kurt explained, the present tense of his words sticking uncomfortably in Blaine's throat, "and he was my high school sweetheart. He was the first boy to love me and I was sure he'd be the last. After high school, we both decided to stay in Lima, go to OSU. While I was in school I ran the bar at night and on the weekends and once I graduated I threw myself into making sure that my dad was only running the books. I was at Hummel's every spare second, making sure it was running the best it could. Like something my dad could be proud of, you know? Daniel had a job at the newspaper before he even had a diploma. Then we got engaged, despite the lack of legality in it all, and when we were twenty-six I decided I wanted a baby; and he didn't tell me no. We hired a surrogate and then we had Kadie.

"Then," he took a deep breath before continuing, "A little over a year ago, he left. He was there when I went to sleep and he was gone when I woke up. Do you have any idea how hard it is to tell a four year old that her daddy just up and left her in the middle of the night? And that all he left was a note that said he needed to find himself? Explaining that was by far the most difficult thing I've ever done in my entire life."

"Where'd he go?" Blaine asked breaking his silence.

"No idea," Kurt shook his head, "His sister is still in town so if something happened to him I assume she'd tell me. However, I don't think she ever liked me. She actually works at the school. Claudia Valente."

"I met her yesterday."

Kurt scoffed, "Lucky you. I'm sure she was charming."

"I'm the first person you've gone out with since then," Blaine asked bringing them back from their tangent.

"You saw how hard Santana was pushing me to ask you out," Kurt said looking at Blaine, and then directed his eyes towards the carpet, "Yeah."

"Would you have asked me out if she hadn't said anything in front of me?"

Kurt shrugged, "I don't know."

"And Daniel," Blaine questioned, "Is that finished?"

"I haven't heard from him in over a year. I really have no idea where he is."

"But if you did," Blaine prompted.

Blaine needed to know where Kurt's heart was and when Kurt didn't immediately respond, Blaine had his answer.

"I think," Blaine said before Kurt found his words, "I think that maybe it's not a good idea to continue this relationship. Romantically, I mean."

Blaine felt the pieces of himself that had begun to mend back together start chipping away again. It wasn't just as bad as Kurt being the parent of one of his students. Kurt had a fiancé out there...somewhere. They'd had a good time, a great time, but some things just weren't meant to work out.

"Oh," was the only thing Kurt said, his shoulders slumping. Blaine hated seeing the defeat in Kurt's body; but he knew it was for the best.

"There are a lot of ways this could get messy very quickly. And I'm Kadie's teacher. I don't think I could date a parent of a student in the best of situations."

"Maybe you're right," Kurt said looking crushed. Blaine wished he could take Kurt's hand or hold him tight, something that would comfort him. But he couldn't, not today. Not when the reality of the situation was still so raw.

Kurt was already standing up and reaching for his coat before Blaine heard the voices coming from the other side of the front door. He couldn't ask Kurt to stay, but there weren't any more words to say. Not tonight.

"I'll see you," Kurt said.

"Yeah," Blaine said as the front door opened and Cooper and Allison walked in.

Kurt rushed out the door, muttering a goodbye as he pulled the door shut behind him.

"Everything okay," Cooper asked.

"Yeah," Blaine said grabbing his coffee cup, and Kurt's, and headed towards the kitchen.

"Kurt left in a hurry," Cooper said, Allison next to him trying to shush him.

Blaine dropped the mugs into the sink, his back still to his brother and just quietly shrugged.

"Did you guys break up already?"

It didn't matter that Blaine had never told Cooper the truth about Kurt. Because now there wasn't anything to tell.

"Cooper," Allison scolded, "Leave him alone."

Blaine wanted nothing more to crawl into his bed and wait for tomorrow. A tomorrow that would be different from today, but not entirely unfamiliar. Tomorrow he would have to go back to what life was like before Kurt. Before the promise the universe had made him had been shattered. Feeling exhausted, the weight of the day pressing down on him, Blaine went wordlessly from the room, ignoring Cooper calling behind him.

* * *

When Kurt came in the door, feeling completely exhausted, and found Kadie and Santana at the kitchen table coloring; he couldn't help the way his heart swelled just a tiny bit. He could always bank on the sight of his girls making him feel a little bit better. Santana looked up from what looked like a picture of Belle—taking in Kurt's downtrodden expression—then whispered something to Kadie who nodded wordlessly as Santana got up from the table.

"You want to tell me why exactly I had to run over here for an emergency that didn't have to do with the restaurant. Is your dad okay?"

"My dad is fine," Kurt said taking Santana by the arm and leading her into the living room, out of Kadie's ear shot, and threw himself on the couch.

"It was Blaine," Kurt said closing his eyes like if that would block everything that had just happened, so that for a moment he could stop thinking about. But it was no use.

"Blaine," Santana said quizzically, "oh, the short guy from the restaurant?"

"Yes. Him."

"Did you finally decide you needed to get on that?"

Kurt opened his eyes and glared at his best friend.

"I didn't tell him about Kadie."

"Oh," she said stunned, "why the hell not?"

"A bunch of reasons that don't matter anymore," Kurt said, "and then I showed up to pick up Kadie from school today, and the teacher that they hadn't hired yet, it was Blaine."

"You mean to tell me that you went out with him—more than once—and you didn't even know what he did for a living? You didn't ask and he didn't tell? Jesus, Kurt. He could have been a serial killer."

"Well it turns out he's a kindergarten teacher."

"And," Santana prompted.

"And, we decided that it would be a good idea to not see each other anymore."

And maybe that was mostly true. Blaine was Kadie's teacher and that meant everything had changed. And Kurt surely couldn't force Blaine into seeing where their relationship could go. But now that Blaine also knew about Daniel, he was certain that Blaine's decision may have been less about Kadie and more about the man who'd abandoned him.

"You told him about the scum bag."

Kurt signed in response.

"So that's it," Santana questioned, "I mean, it's not like he hates kids. I'm sure this isn't the first time this has happened in the history of the world."

"He said he can't date one of his student's parents," Kurt said, "So yeah, that's it."

"Should I hate him?"

"No," he said quickly managing a fraction of a smile. He was glad to have Santana by his side but he also knew how she treated those who were unkind to those she loved, "He wasn't malicious and his points are valid. It's not the right time. I'm not ready."

Santana sat down on the couch next to Kurt, tugging at him arm until Kurt went willing into her arms, resting his head on her shoulder.

"It's out there," she whispered, "that love we grow old with. It's out there for both of us."

Kurt nodded, but kept his gaze forward, staring at the mantle which had been once filled with pictures of his family. Of his dad, his mom, of Kadie, of Santana, of him and Daniel. But the pictures of Daniel had been long removed by Santana, hidden in a box in the basement. To anyone else, the empty space was just that, empty space. But for Kurt they were the holes in his life. The ones he was trying to fill the best he could. The ones he thought would just stay unfilled forever. But maybe he just needed to fill them with different things and let that be enough.

"Stay for dinner," Kurt said looking up at Santana, wondering for just a moment how he could have done the last year without her.

"Only if you're showing Disney princesses afterward."

Kurt smiled and he can hear Kadie singing softly in the kitchen, still coloring, "I think that can be arranged."

* * *

It had been two weeks since the conversation in Blaine's living room. Two weeks of Kurt doing his best to avoid seeing Blaine when he picked up Kadie from school. But Blaine had gained a fan in Kurt's daughter—from the entire class, really—according to Kadie's lively retellings of her day during dinner. Of course Blaine would be the teacher that everyone loved.

Kurt flipped through the folder of reminders that had been sent home with Kadie. There was a letter informing parents that a student teacher would be joining the classroom in a few weeks until Christmas, the flyer for the bake sale, and the reminder that Monday was Open House.

Two weeks ago, Kurt had been positively giddy at the idea of going to Open House. Not that the night would be particularly exciting, but because it was the first school event that he could attend as a parent. He'd been waiting for this since the moment Kadie had been born.

You see, Burt Hummel, Kurt's father, was the greatest dad. For as long as he could remember, and especially after his mom died, Kurt's dad had been Kurt's hero, his role model, the person he strived to be in every aspect of his life. If Kurt could be even the smallest fraction as great of a father as Burt was, then he was doing alright. And Kurt couldn't remember a single school event, big or small, that his father hadn't attended.

All of Kurt's excitement had been before he'd met Blaine. And now, he wasn't go eager to go. But he'd made the mistake of telling his father about it, as excited as he had been in a pre-Blaine world, and now all of Kurt's excitement had transferred to his father.

"It was my duty as a father," Burt had said, "And it's going to be my duty as grandfather."

It was moments like this that made Kurt love his father just that much more. He knew that the only reason that his father was putting in so much effort was because this was something he was supposed to do with Daniel. It was one of those things that parents do. Together. But if he wasn't going to get the chance to do this the way he'd planned, he was certainly glad that it was his father by his side.

And Kadie was just as excited as Burt.

She led them into the school, guiding her father and grandfather through the halls of the school, talking a mile a minute about how these were the bathrooms and these were the second grade classrooms and down there was the lunch room. She was the ever-so-pleasant hostess. Kurt beamed at his daughter, grateful that still remained so alive after everything they'd been through. She was the light in the darkness that had surrounded him for the last year.

"In here daddy," Kadie said tugging at Kurt's hand, "In here, grandpa."

Kadie led them through the door of her classroom. Of Blaine's classroom. Where Kurt couldn't hide any longer.

There were already a dozen or so students are parents inside. Some were talking amongst themselves but he did see a glimpse of Blaine talking to a group of parents.

"This is where I sit," Kadie announced, excited to show her dad and her grandpa her chair and the nametag that she'd written that was tapped to the top of the table.

"It's the best seat in the house," Kurt said looking away from the desk and at the rest of the classroom.

They'd only been in school a few weeks, but the walls were covered with primary colors, letters, and numbers as a demonstration of how much they'd learned already, and how at that age, you're only limited by your imagination. The true tolls of life were still unexperienced and life was about coloring books and crafts with way too many sequins.

Kurt looked back at his daughter who was about to tell Burt something—a secret for only his ears—when the sound of the piano rang through the room, commanding everyone's attention with the quick run through the scale. And in a moment, Kadie was going, hurrying to the corner of the room. A moment later the piano was accompanied by a small choir of voices. Blaine's voice and the voices of all his students.

By the time they were half way through the song, Blaine had the enter room, including the adults, mesmerized. It was a ridiculous children's song, Old MacDonald, but there wasn't a single person in the room who wasn't turned into Blaine. The kids sang along and clapped their hands, expressions of joy on their faces. There was no way Kurt could suppress the smile that lit up his face when he looked over to see Kadie—happy—as she sang along. When the song was over the entire crowd broke into applause. It's the standing ovation Blaine deserved.

The crowd of five year olds shouted for an encore, but Blaine only promised something special for them in the morning. Now he has to meet all of their parents.

Kadie returned to Kurt a moment later and grabbed onto Kurt's hand tugging him through the crowd, towards Blaine.

"Daddy, you've got to meet my teacher."

Blaine looked up as another family walked away and this was when things were going to get interesting.

"Mr. Anderson," Kadie said grabbing his attention, "This is my daddy."

Kurt was unsure how to react. Do they shake hands? Pretend they don't already know each other's name? Do they pretend like they know each other but forget about the dancing and the kissing? Whatever it was, Kadie wasn't going to stick around and see it. She'd done her work and now whatever the little boy across the room was doing was more important.

Blaine laughed, "Sometimes kids have no attention spans at all."

"You can sing," Kurt said because it was the first thing that popped into his head.

"I can," Blaine responded with a bashful smile, 'Though, admittedly, m y audience as of late has consisted of five year olds. But they seem to love me, so I can't complain."

"Hummel's hosts karaoke night once a month. You should try your hand at a more mature audience."

"We'll see." Blaine had tried to hide the moment of hesitation, but Kurt spotted it.

Burt cleared his throat.

"Oh," Kurt said turning his attention to his father, "Dad, this is Blaine Anderson, Kadie's teacher. Blaine, this is my dad, Burt Hummel."

Kurt watched as Blaine and his father shook hands an exchanged pleasantries. His eyes met his father's, but he ignored the questioning looking in them. But despite Blaine's slight hesitation early, Blaine seemed completely unaffected by the situation they'd found themselves in. Maybe Blaine had completely moved on already. They were never actually dating to begin with.

"Don't you agree, Kurt?"

His father's voice pulled Kurt from the overwhelming what ifs and maybes that had congested his thinking into the conversation that was happening with Blaine.

"I was just telling Mr. Anderson here about how Kadie's been trying to read on her own a lot lately."

"I have some excellent recommendations if you're looking to accelerate her reading."

"That'll be great," Kurt said.

"I'll send a list home with Kadie tomorrow," Blaine said, "It was good to meet you Mr. Hummel. Kurt it was good to see you."

And then he excused himself to go talk to another family. Kurt couldn't help put follow Blaine with his eyes as he greeted a couple with a five year old at their feet and a newborn in their arms.

"Are we going to talk about this?"

Kurt's attention snapped back towards his father, "Talk about what?"

"What just happened?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kid, you're no good at lyin' unless you want something," Burt said, "I was standing right here. You can't deny anything."

Kurt sighed, "I don't want to talk about this."

"But there's something to talk about?"

"Not here," Kurt said, "Definitely not here."

Burt dropped the subject and they drove home with Kadie telling her father and grandfather all about the different things they do every week in school. Like she didn't tell them every day. They ordered pizza and sat around Kurt's kitchen table just talking. Kurt caught his dad up on some of the stuff that was happening at Hummel's, Kadie listening like it was important to her. When it was time for bed, Kurt tucked his daughter in and kissed her goodnight. And when he went back downstairs he found his father still sitting at his kitchen table.

"Spill," Burt said gesturing at the empty chair across the table, a steaming mug of tea sitting in front of it.

Kurt slumped into his chair and wrapped his fingers around his mug, "The guy from Labor Day."

"Blaine?"

"Blaine."

"What happened?"

"I-I didn't tell him about Kadie. I know I should have, but I didn't. It had been so long since I'd been out with anyone; I just wanted to see what happened before I dropped all of our drama on his lap. And it came back to bite me in the ass. I showed up to pick Kadie up for school on the first day, and there he was."

"Then what happened?"

"We talked. I told him about Daniel and he—we—decided that it would be best if he didn't continue to have a romantic relationship."

"Is that what you really wanted?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Yes. I thought I was ready to jump into a new relationship head first, but maybe Blaine being Kadie's teacher was a sign that I need to slow down. Maybe as much as I think I'm ready, the universe just trying to tell me I'm not."

"This year has been hard on you, Kurt. You and Kadie. I'm so proud of you both. But just remember," Burt said, "everything happens for a reason."

A tiny laugh escaped Kurt, "That's it? That's your sage advice? No offense Dad, but I expected better from you."

Burt let out a hearty laugh, "That's what I got, bud. And you might not understand it today, or tomorrow, or a month from now. But eventually it'll all make sense."

* * *

**AN:** Thanks for reading and thank you for your patience as I try to get these up as soon as possible! My goal is to continue with an update every 2 weeks!

Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Our boys are in for a little drama!

Have a great day!


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